Hail of Bullets was a Dutch old school death metal supergroup from

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"Ne ...

. The band's lyrical content deals with the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

, and is based upon the research of vocalist

Martin van Drunen Martin van Drunen (born 1966) is a Dutch death metal vocalist who started out in the band Pestilence. In this band, he also performed the bass duties live. He recorded two albums with them, ''Malleus Maleficarum'' and '' Consuming Impulse''. ...

, who has been described as the band's "resident historian". The band has released three albums via

Metal Blade Records Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distr ...

History

Hail of Bullets formed at the end of 2006 when guitarist Stephan Gebédi recruited singer Martin van Drunen, drummer Ed Warby, bass player Theo van Eekelen and guitarist Paul Baayens for an old school death metal band. The band members already knew each other from their previous and present bands like Asphyx, Gorefest,

Thanatos In Greek mythology, Thanatos (; grc, Θάνατος, pronounced in "Death", from θνῄσκω ''thnēskō'' "(I) die, am dying") was the personification of death. He was a minor figure in Greek mythology, often referred to but rarely appea ...

, and Houwitser. Hail of Bullets was influenced by old school death metal bands like Autopsy,

Massacre A massacre is the killing of a large number of people or animals, especially those who are not involved in any fighting or have no way of defending themselves. A massacre is generally considered to be morally unacceptable, especially when per ...

, Bolt Thrower, early

Death Death is the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain an organism. For organisms with a brain, death can also be defined as the irreversible cessation of functioning of the whole brain, including brainstem, and brain ...

as well as Celtic Frost. As drummer Ed Warby relates, the band formed "after a night of hard drinking" when the members, hung over, decided to "bring back the old school values that we felt were sorely missing from modern day death metal." In July 2007 the band recorded a four song promotional CD. Dan Swanö produced the four songs at Unisound Studios. Metal Blade Records released the band's debut album '' …Of Frost and War'' in May 2008. The album focused on the Eastern Front during World War II, first from the German perspective and then from the Soviet perspective as the tide of the battle turned at Stalingrad. The debut album was followed by a six-track mini album in July 2009, entitled ''Warsaw Rising'' which featured two brand new songs, a cover version of

Twisted Sister Twisted Sister was an American heavy metal band originally from Ho-Ho-Kus, New Jersey, and later based on Long Island, New York. Their best-known songs include " We're Not Gonna Take It" and " I Wanna Rock", both of which were associated with ...

's 'Destroyer' plus three live tracks. More shows followed and the band made its first visit to the USA at 2009's

Maryland Deathfest Maryland Deathfest (often abbreviated to MDF) is an annual American extreme metal festival founded in 2003 by Ryan Taylor and Evan Harting. The festival is held in Baltimore, Maryland during Memorial Day weekend, and it features many bands from ...

. In the beginning of 2010 the band started work on its second full-length album, which focused upon the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Mick Koopman provided the artwork. The album was produced by Ed Warby and the mix was again handled by Dan Swanö. ''

On Divine Winds ''On Divine Winds'' is the second album from Hail of Bullets, an old school death metal band formed by current and former members of Asphyx and Gorefest. ''On Divine Winds'' continued the band's focus upon the Second World War, this time focusi ...

'' was released in October 2010. The album entered the German album charts and was voted 'album of the month' in metal magazines such as Rock Hard (Germany), Legacy (Germany), and Terrorizer (UK). 2011 saw the band playing most of the prestigious European Summer festivals Like

Hellfest Hellfest (), also called Hellfest Summer Open Air, is a rock festival focusing on heavy metal music, held annually in June in Clisson, France. Its high attendance makes it the French music festival with the largest turnover. It is also one o ...

Wacken Open Air Wacken Open Air (, abbreviated as W:O:A) is a rock music festival, held annually since 1990 on the first weekend of August in the village of Wacken in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Almost all styles and subgenres of hard rock and metal are ...

, Summer Breeze, Party.San Open Air festival, and Brutal Assault. In 2013, the band announced that it would be returning to the studio in February to record its third full-length album, which was released on 25 October 2013 via Metal Blade Records. Dan Swanö again mixed and mastered the album, with production duties falling to

Ed Warby Edward R. Warby (born 7 March 1968) is a Dutch musician, best known as the drummer for death metal band Gorefest and progressive rock/metal project Ayreon. He also appeared in the band Agressor in 1982 and joined the Eindhoven-based metal band ...

. Titled '' III: The Rommel Chronicles'', the album shifted from a focus upon a particular theatre of war to the biography of German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Cover art was provided by Dutch artist Erik Wijnands. At the end of 2015 Hail of Bullets parted ways with singer Martin van Drunen because of personal issues.

Dave Ingram David Richard Bjerregaard Ingram (born 25 January 1969) is a death metal vocalist from Birmingham, England. He began his career replacing Mark "Barney" Greenway in UK death metal band Benediction when Greenway decided to focus solely on Napal ...

(ex- Bolt Thrower/

Benediction A benediction ( Latin: ''bene'', well + ''dicere'', to speak) is a short invocation for divine help, blessing and guidance, usually at the end of worship service. It can also refer to a specific Christian religious service including the exposit ...

, Down Among the Dead Men) handled vocal duties for the band's appearance at the

; at the conclusion of the band's set, Ingram was announced as a permanent replacement. The band announced their disbandment in March 2017.

Members

Final lineup

*Paul Baayens – guitars (2006–2017) * Stephan Gebédi – guitars (2006–2017) *Theo Van Eekelen – bass guitar (2006–2017) *

– drums (2006–2017) *

– vocals (2016–2017)

Former members

– vocals (2006–2015)

Discography

Demo albums

*''Hail of Bullets'' (self-released, 2007)

EPs

*''Warsaw Rising'' (

Metal Blade Metal Blade Records is an American independent record label founded by Brian Slagel in 1982. The US office for Metal Blade is located in Agoura Hills, California. It also has offices in Germany, Japan, Canada, and the UK. The label is distri ...

, (2009)

Albums

*'' …Of Frost and War'' (Metal Blade, 2008) *''

'' (Metal Blade, 2010) *'' III: The Rommel Chronicles'' (Metal Blade, 2013)

References

External links

* * * {{Use dmy dates, date=May 2022 Dutch death metal musical groups Musical groups from Rotterdam Musical groups established in 2006 Metal Blade Records artists Musical quintets